


Earth's Mightiest Defenders Online

by Menochange



Category: Sword Art Online, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Video Game World, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Fantasy, Fluff and Angst, FrostIron - Freeform, Gen, M/M, Misunderstandings, Slow Burn, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Virtual Reality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-07 23:44:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15918657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menochange/pseuds/Menochange
Summary: A VRMMORPG called Earth's Mightiest Defenders Online has been released where players control their avatars with their bodies using a piece of technology called Nerve Gear. Players discover they cannot log out, as the game creator is holding them captive unless they reach the 100th floor of the game's tower and defeat the final boss. their struggle for survival starts now! FrostIron.





	1. Welcome to Earth's Mightest Defenders Online

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm doing a clean up of my story drive and decided to continue with some that i either didn't post or previously abandoned...  
> I started this years ago on FF.net (back in 2013) but never finished so we'll see how this goes.  
> (In my original version this was set in 2022 but considering that it's four years awaay - and isn't that scary) i've changed it to something further off into the future , not a big difference but it's just to explain why some of the tech will be entirely made up in this story)
> 
> Based off of Sword Art Online but like the Avenger's version - but those of you who read 'Bring Honor to Us All' know that this is probably going to stray away from the original story line so please keep that in mind if you are a fan of SAO :)

_May 29 th 2062_

“Welcome to MMO stream, Today we are covering the launch of the world’s first Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG). Last week Earth’s Mightiest Defenders Online (EMDO) was released with gamers all around the world lining up for days frantically to get their hands on a copy on one of the 10,000 copies that were released.”

Click

“The Beta testers all said the game was incredible and an out of this....”

Click

“I wish I was dedicated enough to line up days before the release to get a copy... the gamers who did must be dedicated...”

Click

“Sold out online in seconds and all the hardcore gamers bought the in store copies in a matter of...”

Click

“Thanos Starling the creator of Ear...”

Click

“Today thousands of gamers will be logging...”

Wait what was that last one.... Click

“For those of you that have been living under a rock for the last couple of months, EMDO is played using the Nerve Gear created Starling and produced by Hammer-Industries, essentially a helmet that transports the player into the virtual online world.”

Tony rolled his eyes, was she stupid or something the Nerve Gear was way more than a helmet, it was a virtual reality helmet that stimulates the user's five senses via their brain, players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds, it was the work of a pure genius. Created by one of the most amazing gaming designers in the world Thanos Starling it was quite literally a work of art even if it was funded by Hammer industries.

“Sir....” Jarvis’ called knocking softly.

“He’s not coming is he J?” opening the door.

“No Sir, he had an important business meeting to attend to.”

“That’s fine J, it’s not the first birthday they have missed and it most definitely won’t be the last” Tony smiled but there was no humour “I guess once again J it’s just you and me, happy sixteenth birthday to me”

“Sir, your mother’s plane has landed early and she has asked that I drop her to the gala”

“That’s fine J; I was going to play my new video game anyway so its fine really, Mother is always going from one charity or gala to the next it’s not surprising that she forgot” he sighed “it’s not important anyway”

“Anthony” Jarvis smiled and held out a slice a cake with a single candle on it that he seemingly produced out of thin air “Happy Birthday”

“Thanks J”  Tony smiled widely it was an unspoken tradition had been for as long as he could remember that on his birthday Jarvis would bring him a slice of cake and a single candle as a silent remind Tony that even though his parents may have forgotten, Jarvis hadn’t.

Tony blew out the candle and set the cake on his desk, turning to Jarvis Tony gave him a quick hug before checking his clock.

11.58am

“J, the games about to start, I have to get ready”

 “I’ll be off then sir, do have a good birthday and please keep out of trouble” Jarvis smiled as he left the room closing the door behind him.

“You know me J, when have I ever gotten into trouble” Tony called after him hearing Jarvis laugh on the other side of the door.

As Jarvis’ footsteps faded away, Tony sighed once more.

Why did he let himself believe that his parents would come home for his birthday, sometimes Tony wondered if they would have even noticed his disappearance last summer if it were not for Jarvis.

Last summer

Tony felt panic rising painfully in his chest just thinking about it.

“Get you fucking head in the game Stark” he muttered to himself

Why oh fucking why would he go there ... he had just stopped thinking about it and now here he was again, it was like he could never escape being a freak of nature... he couldn’t even pretend for a moment that he was normal, like he wasn’t...

NO, I AM NOT GOING THERE.... GET YOUR FUCKING HEAD IN THE FUCKING GAME STARK.

Rolling his eyes at his own stupidity, he plugged the nerve gear into his laptop and started it up.

 Sliding the helmet over his head Tony lay on his bed.

11.59

Time to be someone else he smirked

“LINK START” he commanded closing his eyes

*Visual Online*

*Sound Online*

*Connection Online*

*Ready*

 

** WELCOME TO EARTH’S MIGHTIEST DEFENDERS ONLINE!  **


	2. Game of the Gods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony enters the game and makes a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, New chapter :)

**_Previously on EMDO:_ **

_Time to be someone else he smirked_

_“LINK START,” he commanded closing his eyes_

_*Visual Online*_

_*Sound Online*_

_*Connection Online*_

_*Ready*_

**_ WELCOME TO EARTH’S MIGHTIEST DEFENDERS ONLINE!  _ **

 

Tony blinked; he could hear his heart pounding in his chest.

“I’m finally here” Tony smiled moving his hands around to get used to the new sensation

First task is to raise my combat stats; Tony smirked looking around the Town Square.

This was going to be easy.

Tony bought a sword, nothing fancy until he raised his stats, its standard procedure in these sorts of games that when you die you usually lose whatever your holding so there was no use in buying anything of real value until he got his stats up. He wasn’t an idiot.

Now to find an empty field, Tony pulled up his map, studying it for a moment before deciding to head to a field at the town boarder. Tony ran manoeuvring his way through the town feeling lighter and more care free with every step.

“HEY... HEY YOU THERE” a Booming voice yelled behind him

Tony stopped and turned around just as another boy ran up to him puffing and gasping, resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

“Me?”

“You move like you’ve been here before” The boy stood up pushing his shoulder length blond hair out of his eyes.

“Nope” Tony frowned confused where this was going.

“Are you certain? You see, today is my first day! Show me some basics please!” the boy moved forward putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder.

“Ummm....I don’t know what to tell you man, I wasn’t a beta tester although I wish I was” Tony paused, this was definitely not what he wanted to be doing on his first day. Also his ears hurt, this guy was so loud.

“Oh... sorry I thought you could help me” the boy moved away slowly pouting as if Tony had kicked his puppy and then locked the poor thing in a trash can.

Damn it

“Dude, wait ... I haven’t played this game before but I have played a lot of similar games and I have used the nerve gear before in other games” Tony sighed

“You will help me friend?” The boy grinned and Tony felt like he had just been played

He sighed already regretting his decision.

“I’m Tony”

“I am Thor, tis a pleasure to make your acquaintance friend”

 

 Bang! Thump!

“BY THE NINE, RIGHT IN THE CROTCH!” Thor fell to the ground, curled up in the foetal position as his hands went between his legs in a belated move to protect himself.

“Come on Point Break, you know we can’t actually feel any pain in this game world right” Tony laughed amused at Thor’s antics.

“Oh” Thor got up rubbing the back of his head awkwardly for a moment “I am sorry my friend”

“Don’t worry about it; it was actually quite amusing seeing a big guy like you rolling on the floor, it’s not something you see every day”

Thor laughed loudly as he picked up his knife “Aye Anthony tis not everyday a fearsome beast catches me of guard” 

Tony rolled his eyes at the fearsome beast comment but let it slide.

“I told you Thor, it’s all about your initial motion input”

“I know friend, I know ... But the beast keeps moving... just I do not understand how I...” Thor trailed off motioning to the ‘beast’.

“Look big guy I’ll show you” Tony looked around before picking up a rock

“If you do the motion input right” Tony tossed the rock up in the air before catching it again aiming at the animal in front of him “and activate a sword skill” he then held the rock up in the air behind his head until it glowed red before he chucked the rock.

Bang! Squeal!

“The system will insure that the technique connects” Tony smiled over at Thor who was watching him with amazement.

“Are you sure you were not a beta tester Anthony?”

“Wow. You caught me Thor! I have clearly been lying to you and I totally got the chance to be a beta tester and am now for some stupid reason ashamed of it” Tony snarked dryly as he rolled his eyes.

“Friend there was no need to lie... did you not trust the friendship offered by my hand?” Thor frowned looking hurt

“Thor buddy, I was joking” Tony rolled his eyes again (something he found himself doing more often than not in Thor’s company) “now remember motion input... now you try”

“Ah you jest friend... I now understand” Thor nodded smiling “motion input... motion input” he repeated to himself

 Thor circled around ‘beast’ for a moment trying to attack and stumbling over.

“Ok big guy try again but this time ... how do I say this” Tony paused for a moment “add a slight pause when you feel the skill begin to activate... then let it explode”

“Explode” Thor frowned thinking about it for a moment. Then as if he realised what Tony meant he changed his stance and moved to attack once again wildly charging at the beast before he attacked with a battle cry.

“AHHHHGGGUGUHUGUH” he cried

The beast’s health bar drained as it shattered into pieces, shimmering in the afternoon light before it disappeared.

                                                            **Result:**

**Exp:**                      24

**Col:**                        3 coins

**Items:**                  2

 

“I DID IT, I DEFEATED THE UNGODLY BEAST,” Thor cheered

“Congratulations” Tony gave Thor a pat on the back

 “I couldn’t have done it without you friend” Thor smiled widely

“You did a good job buddy. Buuut….

“What? What have I done wrong?”

 “Nothing! … It’s just that, well that imp you just defeated is the equivalent of slimes in other games”

Thor who had just been about to lay on the grass shot up instantly “Seriously? Do not mock me Anthony! I thought it was a strong foe, strong enough to be a mid level boss or something”

“Sorry big guy...but there is no way that an imp would be a boss of any kind” Tony tilted his head to the side where two more imps appeared.

“Anthony look” Thor exclaimed suddenly indicating to his knife which had upgraded to a long dagger.

“Pretty exciting, yeah” amused Tony watched Thor wave his new weapon around excitedly.

“There are a lot of skills in this world isn’t there, like black smithing, cooking and stuff?” Thor asked still playing with the dagger.

“Yep, from what I’ve heard there are an unlimited amount of skills, however there is a limited amount of magic and ‘superpowers’” Tony paused

“If you want to be like a comic book hero you need to do certain dangerous quests and even then sometimes if the power is not compatible you might die and have to start all the way back in the town of beginners”

“Really? ... but isn’t that a risk giving all players in this world a limited amount of resources like magic?” Thor frowned

“Yeah I guess and from what I’ve heard from the forums online the physics and science behind things can’t be messed with”

Seeing the confused look on Thor’s face Tony decided to elaborate.

“I mean that to create something in this world it has to be in the realm of possibility back home, an example would be time travel, to create time travel in this world it would have to be manageable in the real world, the physics and science behind it would have to be accurate... I mean even magic is a form of science but just you wait, those pompous magic users will disagree”

“You do not wish to become a sorcerer or superhero friend Tony?”

“Nope, I’m an engineer at heart; I’ll create things to help defeat the monsters and get through all 100 levels of the tower”

“You do not wish for the glory of the battle field? Surely you jest friend?”

“Point break, you know that this game isn’t all about battle right, there is planning and building skills and so many other things involved in this than just blindly rushing into battle”

“Ah I see, you are like my brother”

“Your brother is a billion... a guy who hates magic?”

“No friend, my brother like you does not believe that rushing into battle is the way a war is won. He believes we fight like Bilgesnipe, destroying everything in our path”

“Wait like bill-get-what? ... You know what ... don’t even try to explain” Tony smiled shaking his head

Thor swung his dagger around a couple of times “What of mutants, I have heard a lot of talk about them... do you think they are real?”

“I’m guessing so, Thanos is amazing. If anyone could pull something like this off it would be him.”

“Aye, my brother would not stop talking about the creator and how his work was beyond his time”

“Thor buddy, I feel like you should introduce me to your brother, I bet we’d get along...and I’m sure I could show him a good time... if you know what I mean” Tony winked at Thor only to be knocked to the ground.

“DO NOT EVEN JEST ABOUT SUCH THINGS ANTHONY,” Thor growled

“Wow... wow easy there big guy ... I didn’t mean to offend you or anything like that... It was a joke, I mean it was a poorly thought out one but you know, a joke none the less... No hard feelings or anything right?”

“Aye friend, I know you did not mean to challenge my honour or the honour of my kin with your foolish words, Tis just that my brother, he is very dear to me. We do not … we have been separated for some time and I … This game is… ”

“Errrr… sorry, for my stupid comment. It was dumb. I swear I didn’t mean anything by it!” Tony bit his lip sorry he had said anything given the other boy’s reaction.

“No friend, it is I who is sorry. I overreacted. There is no conflict between us. That is if you too accept my apology?” Thor offered a hand helping Tony off the ground.

“Yeah. Dude. Let’s just forget about it. Anyway as I was going to say about your mutant question, the mutants will have probably been chosen at random or maybe by doing a certain quests, I’m not too sure because everything other than the basic mechanics of the game were kept secret. But if I had to guess, I’d say it would be a similar process as with super hero powers.” Tony paused trying to find the right words to explain his theory “You see, according to comic book lore there are a few set ways supers get their powers.  Most have super powers from being non-human like superman, some scientific experiment gone wrong – or right depending on how you look at it, from an object like the green lantern or possibly going through some sort of traumatic experience where they either gain their powers or become a vigilante like batman”

“I do not understand how will it work here as we are all human?”

“I’m not too sure; I’ve got a theory that we might have to complete certain quests to get certain powers but it’s all speculation until we get out of the town of beginners and find out for ourselves. I mean the only other way is for some of us to be non-humans without knowing it which seems a little weird, like how would they even decide who gets to be a mutant? Wouldn’t it be unfair to some? Unless I mean it’s completely randomised.”

“Or mayhap, we have to pay for the ability to be a mutant?” Thor suggested as he once again started slashing his dagger around this time activating his skill before he slashed at thin air looking pleased with himself.

“Yeah, I mean that’s likely possibility.” Tony grinned as he watched his new friend move “It’s a lot more fun moving your whole body while fighting isn’t it”

“Verily this is the game of the gods”

Tony laughed feeling more carefree than he had when he first woke up this morning, Thor was one of a kind “Alright, let’s try again”

“Yes, let’s keep going!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thor is the first of many notable characters to make his appearance :)


	3. Introducing Thanos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Thor talk some more and things start getting exciting :)

** Previously on EMDO: **

“It’s a lot more fun moving your whole body while fighting isn’t it” Tony grinned

“Verily this is the game of gods”

Tony laughed feeling more carefree than he had when he first woke up this morning, Thor was one of a kind “Alright, let’s try again”

“Yes, let’s keep going!”

 

* * *

 

 

_A few hours later_

 

“I still cannot believe that this place is not real, that we are in a game. It matters not how long I stay and experience this world, I am still amazed” Thor commented as they sat on the grass overlooking the sun that had set over the virtual world.

“I truly believe my brother now when he said the man who created this game was a genius. He tested the game before it was released and said that it was amazing to experience. It was one of the only conversations that we have had recently which has ended well”

“Yeah dude. It’s amazing even for someone like me who has done a full dive with the nerve gear before. The way this place is set out, everything feels so real in a way that I’ve never experienced in another game. I can hardly imagine how this must be for you Blondie” Tony smirked.

“Do not laugh friend but in my haste to acquire a copy of the game, I may have forgotten that the gear was needed” Thor blushed as Tony laughed loudly.

“You must understand friend, I knew that the game required the gear, but I had forgotten that we only had one and that was my brother’s and... well I fear that my brother is not fond of me anymore, not like he was when we were but children”

“So, what you bought the hardware to play EMDO? Did you buy the game in stores?”

“Yes, we were really lucky to get one of the ten thousand copies were we not?”

“Well yeah... I guess” Tony bitterly thought. It wasn’t luck in his case but more like being the pathetic son of a billionaire that Howard’s rich business contacts want to suck up to – clearly in hopes that it will sway his dad’s favour. Little did they know that his dear old ‘dad’ didn’t give two shits about anything Tony has ever done, but then again the Starks were always good at playing happy families, despite being fucked up behind closed doors. 

As it was Hammer Industries had given Tony a copy of the game, hours before it was released to the public. Tony knew better than to think they were giving it to him as anything other than a way to butter Howard up for their proposed joint project with Stark Industries. So no there was no luck involved on Tony’s part, but well he wasn’t going to tell his new buddy Thor that. At times the other boy could come off as kind of dense, but he was cool to hang out with and Tony ... Well Tony didn’t have a lot of friends – at least friends who actually liked him without knowing about the Stark part of his name.

“But I’ll tell you who is really lucky big guy” Tony began realising that he was quiet for a bit too long “Your brother, I mean to be a beta tester... that would have been amazing”

“Ah... yes less than a thousand people got to test the game out” Thor agreed

 “How long did he test it out for and far did he get? Did he make it up the tower of Doom?”

“Yes, but only reached the 8th floor after a couple of months at least that was what I heard from him talking to his friends. Though he is adamant however that he will be able to do it in a month this time around and I do not doubt him”

“Wow so I guess he is really into this isn’t he? It’s cool that he is passionate about it, I’d definitely like to talk to him about it sometime.”

“I think I should make it very clear once again Anthony that whist my brother is not fond of me at the moment, I am very fond of him. Therefore I do not think I like where you are going with this, _friend_ ” Thor’s voice held a warning.  

Tony held up his hands in the sign of surrender “I didn’t mean it like that big guy. Trust me, I haven’t forgotten out earlier conversation. I really do think it would be great to talk to him about this world. I understand now that I am here, how amazing this all is. If I had been a tester, the game would be all I thought about day and night. I mean I’ve only been here for a few hours and I know it’s a virtual world but I still feel more alive here than I do in the real world” Tony  stopped suddenly aware that he was about to start pouring his heart and soul out to some guy that he just met a couple of hours ago.

“Well Goldilocks, now that I’m made a fool out of myself wanna go hunt some more?”

 “I do not believe you have friend but we shall slay the ungodly beasts none the less” Thor cheered moving to jump up before clutching his stomach “on the other hand, I am in great need of sustenance; before we march into battle. I fear that I will have to log out”

“It’s a downside I guess of being in a virtual world, eating food here only makes you feel as though you’re not hungry” 

“But I am prepared, I have ordered pizza for myself and my brother which will come at 5.30pm, but fear not friend once I have eaten I will be back” Thor smiled widely

“I see” Tony muttered helping Thor up from the ground

“Oh but I am meeting my valiant friends and hopefully my brother after this, you are welcome to join us”

Tony bit his lip, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to friend Thor’s friend it’s just that he’d never been good with the whole meet and greet people thing. Most people generally assumed he was snotty, stuck up, weird or socially awkward and sure that’s sorta changed since he finished high school but he’s still the rich, slightly weird, smartass prodigy who lives off campus. He has a total of three ‘maybe friends’ but then again it’s not like anyone will know that it’s him, so it should be okay right?

“Friend ... are you listening?” Thor’s voice boomed breaking Tony from his thoughts

“Huh?”

“I just said that it is fine. if you do not wish to join us that it will not offend me” Thor grinned, “I shall introduce you at another time, I believe that you will get along well with my brother”

“Yeah, sorry” Tony frowned, here he was being totally socially awkward and Thor still wanted to hang out with him. Something was seriously wrong with this dude but still, it was nice knowing that Tony’s weirdness didn’t scare him off “Thanks”

“No friend it is I who should be thanking you, I shall repay you for your kindness friend” Thor clapped him on the back “Mentally” he added smiling

Tony laughed

“I shall see you around friend” Thor exclaimed as they shook hands

“If you need any help with anything just send me a message”

“I will do that, but good bye for now Anthony” Thor moved away from Tony waving enthusiastically before opening up his menu screen, the options appearing in front of him accompanied by a soft chime.

“Huh?”

Tony turned back around facing Thor

“Friend the log out button is not here”

“Look closer Blondie of course it is” Tony rolled his eyes; Thor must be really hungry if he can’t even see a log out button.

“No it is not there,” Thor, stated sounding confused

He moved towards Thor “At the bottom of the main menu.”

Tony decided then to open up his own menu screen, clicking on the gear button:

  * _Options_
  * _Settings_
  * _Help_



Tony frowned, he’d read the guide book cover to cover before logging on, the log out button should be right under the help button, this wasn’t right.

“See it’s not there”

“No, it isn’t”

“Well...” Thor turned around to face him “Tis only the first day out of beta, there are bound to be many unforseen complications” He laughed walking closer to Tony “I am sure the server people are very worried about this”

“Yeah well, I’m sure you’re going to be very worried about these unforseen complications when you see the time, its 5.25”

Thor fell to his knees looking heartbroken “MY MEAT SUPREME PIZZA WITH EXTRA EVERYTHING AND ROOTBEER....”

 “Dude  ... chill; just call the game master already”

Thor stopped freaking out and opened up the main menu screen pressing the game master button “My button seems to not be working friend, very little is happening when I press the button”

Tony sat down on the grass “Dude if we can’t get through to the game master then we are screwed, the only way to log out is through the log out button on the main menu”

“That’s cannot be right Anthony, there must be another way” Jumping up and down Thor started to yell waving his hands around.

“Escape”

“Log Out”

“Release me”

“Finished”

“Goldilocks, just calm down for a second, look I’m telling you I read that god damned manual cover to cover and there was no emergency log out in the manual either”

“You must be mistaken; there must be a way. I know I shall simply rip the nerve gear off my head,” Thor stated gripping both sides of his head and pulling upwards.

“You can’t, seriously just stop and listen to me man, we can’t move our real bodies while we are wearing the nerve gear. It intercepts our electrical impulses, essentially cutting off any actions that we tell our bodies to do in the virtual world so we don’t actually do them in the real world”

“Are you certain, does this mean that we have to wait until they fix the problem?”

“Or for someone in the real world to remove the nerve gear from us” Tony added grimly

“But my brother and I are both in the game; my parents are out of town for the week, what about you?”

“I won’t be missed, let’s just leave it at that”

“Surely there is someone who will notice you are not around”

“My Bu- Jarvis, yeah Jarvis or maybe Pepper will notice”

“I understand that this Jarvis is a friend of yours and will hence be able to take off the gear as you cannot, but I fail to see how a condiment will aid you in any way”

Tony let out a humourless laugh “Pepper is a person Thor. More specifically she is my sort of girlfriend, who sort of cheated on me but then we have an on again off again kind of relationship so she sort of didn’t cheat on me. It’s complicated and I don’t actually want to talk about it so let’s just leave it at that”

“I do not understand the mind of females either, my dear friend Sif and I once pursued a relationship but alas it was not meant to be” Thor paused looking thoughtful

“We could not fight valiant battles side by side on quests of glory as we would always end up fighting, although friend I am curious as how your friend was named after a condiment” 

 “Well hey now, point break what kind of name is Thor, or Loki or Sif for that matter, if those are normal people names  god knows what you’d name your pets”

“Surely you did not mean offence; it is tradition and a great honour to be named after the Norse gods”

Tony shook his head “sorry dude, I didn’t mean it like that it’s just been a long day that’s all. Pepper is a nickname more importantly Thor, don’t you find this a bit weird”

“Verily I agree, there is something not right with this situation”

“Sometimes I forget that you’re the definition of weird and then you go and say words like verily and go all Shakespeare on me and I can’t remember what made me think you were normal”

Thor opened his mouth to protest but Tony continued over him “It not just a bug, think about it Hercules, if we can’t log out that’ll pose a serious problem for the game’s future”

“Come to think of it you are right, the sun has already gone down in this world, and if they really wanted to they would have done something by now right?”

“Yeah, they could have shut down the server and logged everyone out like that, but what has me worried is that there hasn’t even been an announcement”

**DING**

**DING**

**DING**

Tony and Thor both spun around wildly looking for the bell that was ringing

“It seems to be....”

But whatever Thor was about to say was cut off as they were both abruptly teleported to the town of beginnings.

Looking around both boys immediately noticed that it wasn’t only them, it seemed like every player in the game was being teleported back to the town square, in the open area near the clock tower.

Players were chatting loudly glancing around uneasily as the bell continued to ring. With each ding more players seemed to appear, no one seemed to know what was going on.

“A player wide forced teleport, what the hell is going on?” Tony muttered looking around through the crowd of people.

“OH MY GOD ... LOOK UP THERE,” Someone in the crowd shouted, soon the whole area was filled with players looking up and pointing as the sky turned red and the words:

** WARNING   
SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT  **

Written over and over again in black text filled the air above their heads.

The words and the red sky seemed to then ooze a red liquid like substance which pooled over the clock tower coming together to form a large hooded figure in red and gold hovering in front of the players.

“What the hell” Thor murmured

All around them, the frantic chatter of other players could be heard.

“Is that a game master?”

“What the hell is going on?”

“I’m scared”

“Is this an event?”

“It’s going to be fine”  

“Why doesn’t it have a head?”

“I’ll protect you”

“Clearly this is all part of the opening ceremony”

“I’m not scared”

“Total hoax”

“... Pretending we couldn’t log out just to keep the suspense”

**_“ATTENTION PLAYERS. WELCOME TO MY WORLD”_** the figure started

“My world?” Tony frowned but that would mean…

**_“MY NAME IS THANOS STARLING AND AS OF THIS MOMENT I AM THE SOLE PERSON WHO IS IN CONTROL.”_ **


	4. The Game Master

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanos finally reveals himself and all becomes clear... sort of ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. I'm back! :)  
> head up there is an important announcement at then end so please do read it and also let me know what you think about the story so far :)

**Recap:**

**_“ATTENTION PLAYERS. WELCOME TO MY WORLD”_** the figure started

“My world?” Tony frowned but that would mean…

**_“MY NAME IS THANOS STARLING AND AS OF THIS MOMENT I AM THE SOLE PERSON WHO IS IN CONTROL.”_ **

****

* * *

 

**_Now:_ **

 

“Seriously?”  
  
“Wow, that's some entrance.”

“Dude, this is totally all part of the game”

“Somebody hold me!”

“Wow, these effects are amazing”

 **“I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus – the log out button.** **Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is how ‘Earth’s Mightiest Defenders Online’ was designed to be.”** The figure now identified as Thanos continued ignoring the comments from down below.  
  
“He cannot be serious. Right?” Thor asked his voice booming over the chatter from around them.    
  
**“From this moment onwards you are all stuck here in my world. You cannot log yourselves out of EMDO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the nerve gear from your head.”** The faceless, hooded figure looming over them all ominously as Thanos continued to speak **“If anyone from the outside world attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the nerve gear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life.”**

At his words the crowd went wild, voices cascading over each other as they all tried to speak at the same time.

“What is he talking about?”

“Oh, come on! That's such Bull Shit. I hate this game!”

“Yeah, this game sucks!”

“This is stupid. If the game was actually good then they wouldn’t need to use such gimmicks”

“So it isn’t real?”

“Of course not sweetheart, and even if it was I’ll protect you!”

Tony looked around, observing the reactions of the other players. He knew all about Thanos, read all about him and watched all the interviews he’s done about the game. The guy didn’t seem like the type to mess around, this wasn’t a joke and no serious game developer would add such a stupid gimmick – something like this could affect the game ratings severely. No this wasn’t a joke. This was real.

“Let's get out of here” A blond haired muscular boy – wearing tight leather pants and a hideous mustard colour shirt underneath his armour – pulled a pretty brown haired girl in a green sequined dress towards one of the town squares many exits only to bash into some sort of invisible barrier.

“Hey, we can't get out!” The boy yelled banging his hands against the invisible walls that seems to have settled around them, holding them all prisoner.

“Friend Tony, do you hear the claims of this madman! Surely he is speaking nonsense” Thor turned to look at him, face twisted in disbelief.

“No. He's not crazy. From everything I’ve read about the nerve gear – I don’t really trust Hammer tech so trust me when I say I did a lot of research before I actually started to use it – The transmitter's signals in the headgear work just like microwaves. If Thanos managed to disable the safety, then theoretically it could fry your brain.”

“Seriously!? Couldn't someone cut the power or...?”

“Dude that won’t work the gear has its own internal battery”  
  
“Anthony. This is absurd! He cannot get away with this!” Thor replied clearly outraged and Tony was saved from replying (Seriously how does someone respond to that, they weren’t actual superheros they just pretended to be in games. There was no stopping Thanos) but the man in question who continued with his speech.

 **“I have made this announcement around the globe so that everyone knows what is happening. However despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the nerve gear, an unfortunate decision, to say the least. As a result, the game now has two hundred thirteen less players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world.”** As the figure spoke news reports from around the world popped up in the sky around them, images of the dead players flowed by clips of distraught families and friends played around them.

“Two hundred thirteen!” Tony whispered in disbelief shocked that so many had already died, things were starting to get real fast.  
  
“No way... I don't believe it!” Thor commented hands coming up to cover his mouth, the same disbelief mirrored in his face.  
  
**“As you can see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a nerve gear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game.”** Headlines warning advising against the removal of the gear scrolled across the screens confirming what Starling was saying as the man continued voice calm, removed even as though the death of those players and the anguish he caused meant nothing to him. **“It's important to remember the following: There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system... forever. And the nerve gear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There is only one way for a player to escape now -- you must clear the game. Right now, you're gathered on Floor One, at the lowest world of the nine - midguard. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Completing floors and finding hidden objects will allow you to travel to different worlds. Defeat the final boss on Asgard the final world, and you will clear the game.”**  


The chatter than had died down as Thanos spoke erupted once again. Players cried and yelled directly at the figure. Some turned to the people around them hoping for answers, for a solution that didn’t seem to be coming.

“Clear? What does that even mean?”

“How the hell are we supposed to clear the game?”  
  
“What's he talking about?”  
  
“Why should we believe any of the crap you're saying?”

“Why would you do this?”

“Please. Please, just let us go!”  
  
“We can't clear all 100 floors...That's neigh impossible... even the beta testers never made it that high!” Thor roared angrily screaming at the game master.

 **“Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player.** **  
Please have a look.”** The hooded figure opened his arms wide as though inviting them to check for themselves.

While logically Tony knew that curiosity killed the cat, he couldn’t help himself as he opened up his main menu to check his inventory.  
  
“A mirror?” Tony frowned pulling out the small hand held object inspecting it thoroughly. Nothing, it was honestly just an ordinary mirror. The genius looked up, wondering if anyone else had figured out what was going on only for his mirror to shatter into a million pieces, the whole square enveloped in a bright light.

“Thor!” Tony yelled as he closed his eyes, blinded momentarily as he brought up his hands to rub at his eyes – belatedly realising that he was still hold his mirror, only to realised that it was unbroken. What on earth was going on?  
  
“Are you harmed, Friend Tony?” Thor called out to him.  
  
“Yeah. I’m alright. How about you point break?” Tony asked finally opening his eyes, moving his hands away from his face to turn to his companion only to find a stranger in his place. “Wait... Who the hell are you?”  
  
“Me? I'm me. Who are you?” The other boy asked looking confused.

Tony’s attention shifted as chaos erupted around them. The other players yelling as they began to realise that everyone around them looked different from before.

“Son of a... You're a guy?!” A young chubby boy with a hideous mustard shirt yelled, pulling his hand away from another guy (who was presumably the girl from earlier) wearing a green sequined dress

“Oh My God!  You're not seventeen?” the brown haired guy yelled back clearly shocked.  
  
Tony turned back around focusing his attention once again towards the boy in front of him really taking him in. He looked like a typical dumb jock – the kind of guy who would have bullied Tony when he was back in high school. The boy was tall and muscular, his short blond hair perfectly messy – which only added to his boyish charm. Wait a second. Was this…?  
  
“Friend Anthony…Is that you?”  
  
“Thor?”  
  
“But, how? I do not understand, how do they know what we really look like?”  
  
“Stupid! It was the scan!” Tony muttered, annoyed that he didn’t think of it earlier “There's a high-density signal device inside the nerve gear rig. So it can see what our faces looks like, but it shouldn’t know our height and body types. How’d they get that info?”  
  
“When you first put the nerve gear on, it had to do this... calibration thing. It asked you to touch your body all over like this, remember?” Thor mimicked patting himself down in imitation of the gear calibration (which really wasn’t all that bad a view if Tony was being completely honest)  
  
“Shit, I forgot about that. That's where it got our physical data!”  Tony grinned at his friend excited that they were beginning to piece everything slowly together.  
  
“But, this is... I do not understand Anthony. What's the point of all this?! Why would anyone want to do something like this?!  
  
“I don’t know big guy but, I think he's about to tell us.” Tony nodded towards the hooded figure who finally lowered his hands, the empty space where its face should be stared straight out at them all creepily.

 **“Right now, you are probably wondering why.** **Why would Thanos Starling, developer of EMDO and nerve gear, do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The world is corrupt so I created Earth’s Mightiest Defender’s Online to control the fate of a world of my own design. To find those worthy and ensure true justice prevails”**  
  
“Thanos can’t be serious, justice? This isn’t justice! This is madness” Tony muttered to himself as the game master continued to speak.  
  
**“As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Earth’s Mightiest Defender’s Online. Players, I wish you all the best of luck.”** Thanos laughed as his avatar oozed back into the ceiling where it came from. The sky lightened up and the barrier that had trapped them inside the square dissolved into nothing. After a moment the silence that had gripped them all as Thanos made his exit evaporated leaving behind a hysterical crowd in its wake.  
  
Holy shit! It's not a game. It's real. Thanos Starling created a virtual world. He designed the nerve gear rig and then sold it to Hammer. The man's a genius! Tony had read all about his work. Everything he just said... it must be the truth! This was too sick a thing to lie about. That means that If he dies in the game, he’ll die in real life! Holy shit! Tony closed his eyes taking a deep breath trying to calm himself down, trying to get his genius brain to start working again. He focused on the sounds of the people around him trying not to freak out.

“My god... No!”  
  
“No way!”

“Not cool, dude!”

“Let me out... Let me out of here!”

“I can't stay here. I have a meeting after this!”

“Stop pushing!”  
  
“You have to let us go!”  
  
“Wait! Seriously?”

 

Tony opened his eyes, they couldn’t stay here. Soon things would be hectic. They had to leave now.

“Thor, buddy. We need to go. We need to go now! Follow me!” Tony whispered to the other boy grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the town square and into an alleyway.

“Okay, listen big guy. I'm heading out right now for the next village. I want you to come with me.”  
  
“I do not understand friend? Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Look... If what he said is true, and I think it is, the only way we're gonna survive in here is by making ourselves as strong as possible. In an MMORPG, the money you can earn but the EXP… Well once the game starts up, there's only so much of that stuff to go around. The resources are limited I mean look at the fields around the Town of Beginnings. Soon it’s going to be hunted through. The smartest idea is to head to the next village now. We'll have an easier time collecting cash and points. I know neither of us have been here before but I’ve played games which are very similar I think I can get us there with relative ease. Even at level 1” Tony grinned already plotting their route in his head.

“Friend Anthony… I give you my thanks, and know I owe you a hefty debt but... you know those friends of mine I was telling you about... we grew up together, I begged for them to join me when I decided to buy this game. We all waited in line all night for this game. They're back at the Plaza, somewhere... and I cannot leave them. I also need to find my brother. I won’t fail him again. I will not let them separate us again. I cannot lose him Anthony. I cannot.” Thor locked eyes him and Tony could see the passion and conviction that burnt in his friend’s eyes.

Tony was conflicted, on one hand he wanted to help his new friend but on the other hand… if it was just Thor and his brother then it might be alright but it sounded like there were a lot of them and things were bound to get messy and complicated then.  
  
“I am sorry Anthony. I cannot in good conscience ask a guy I just met to risk his life for a bunch of strangers. Don't worry about me. I shall be fine friend. Go to the next village. Once I find my brother and my friends I will be more than fine!” Thor grinned easily at him with no sign of any malcontent.  
  
“Okay. If you’re sure big guy. I'll get going. But if you're in a jam, message me, okay? I’m always down to help a friend” Tony forced an easy grin onto his face still torn up about leaving the other boy behind.  
  
“Of course my friend. And you do the same!” Without any warning Thor grabbed Tony in a tight bear hug and the genius could practically feel the older boy squeeze his HP points out of him (Not literally. Thank God!)  
  
“Okay… well errr…. I guess I'll be seeing you, Thor. Take care.” Tony said finally as he pulled out of the embrace and began to walk away.

“Anthony. I’m sure we will meet again!” Thor called before he too turned and walked back towards the square and Tony grinned for real this time as he ran through the streets and headed out of the town.

 

_He would survive. He was Tony Stark, there was no way he could fail!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys,
> 
> So just a heads up, all my projects are going on hold – although some may be sporadically updated in the unlikely event that I have free time – for the next few months.  
> I’m going to be in the middle of assessments for the first month and then I’m going away on holiday. So I’m doing one last update on every project I have on at the moment (over the next week) and then I’ll be going dark until January.  
> After that my usual update schedule will be back on and running :)
> 
> Thanks for the support guys and sorry to keep you waiting!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think :)


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